Railway-tank.



L.T.HAGAN.

RAILWAY TANK.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 19 10.

1,032,896. Patented July 16, 1912.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPM c0 WASHINGTON, 0.1:.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFTGE.

LOUIS 'I'. HAG-AN, OF WINCHESTER, KENTUCKY, AS SIGNOR TO THE HAGAN GASENGINE AND MFG. 00., F WINCHESTER, KENTUCKY, A CORPORATION OF KEN-RAILWAY-TANK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 28, 1910. Serial No. 563,985.

T 0 all whom at may concern:

I citizen of the United States, residing at Winchester, in the county ofClark and State of Kentucky, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Railway-Tanks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway water tanks and particularly toautomatically operating means for maintaining a sufficient quantity ofwater therein.

The primary obj ect of the invention is to provide a simple andeffective organization of instrumentalit-ies for starting the supply ofwater to a railway tank the moment the outlet valve or means is openedand insuring a complete refilling of the tank after the outlet valve ormeans is closed without the least waste of water from the tank.

lVith this and other objects and advantages in view, the inventionconsists in the construction and arrangement of the several parts whichwill be more fully hereinafter specified.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a sectional elevation embodying a water tankand other instrumentalities involving the features of the invention.Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section through a portion of the watertank showing the outlet valve open and the motor electric circuitclosed, or the position the parts occupy when the tank is being filled.

The numeral 5 designates a water tank of any usual or approvedconstruction properly supported, as for instance by a platform or bed 6having legs 7. In the bottom of the tank 5 an outlet opening 8 providedwith a gravitating or automatically closing valve 9 of any preferredconstruction forms a part of the tank organization, and connected to thebottom of the tank over the opening 8 is an outlet pipe 10 having adownward inclination as usual in railway tank structures and providedwith a flexible coupling tube 11. Close to the outlet opening 8 in thepipe 10 is a water motor 12 which is so positioned as to be in directline of the outflow of water through the pipe and having its shaft 13projected exteriorly and supplied wlth a small pulley or analogousdevice 1d. On the top of the tank is a valve opening lever 15intermediately fulcrumed ona support 16 secured over the upper edge ofthe tank 5 and having an arm 17 projecting upwardly from the centerthereof. The one arm of the lever 15 projects outwardly from the tankand has a pull-chain or analogous device 18 attached thereto anddepending within easy reaching distance of the ground surface. Theremaining arm of the lever 15 extends inwardly over the top portion ofthe tank 5 and has a connecting chain or analogous device 19 attachedthereto and t0 the valve 9 so that when the outer arm of said lever islowered by pulling downwardly on the chain or analogous device 18 thevalve 9 will be opened and remain open as long as the downward pullingtension is exerted on the said outer arm of the lever. \Vhen thepullchain or analogous device is released the lever 15-returns to normalposition and the valve 9 closes, and to assist in this operation or toinsure a positive return of the lever 15 and valve 9 as shown by Fig. 1a counterpoise weight 20 is employed and is shown as applied to theinwardly projecting arm of the said lever 15. This counterpoise weightmay be applied to some other portion of this particular part of the tankorganization to effect the same operation. At a point diametricallyopposite the lever 15 a bell-crank lever 21 is movably applied to theinner surface of the side wall of the tank and the lower arm 22 of thislever is provided with a float and the upper arm 23 is connected by acord, wire or analogous device 2 1 to the arm 17 forming part of thelever 15. The arm 23 of the bell-crank lever 21 carries a contact 25suitably insulated therefrom to engage knife switch members 26, as shownby Fig. 2, said knife switch members having the terminals of circuitwires 27 and 28 connected thereto and also attached to the sparker origniter 29 of an explosive engine 30 and to one pole of a battery 31respectively. The remaining pole of the battery 31 is suitably connectedby a wire 32 to the explosive or gas engine 80 to complete the circuitin the latter, as will be readily understood from the usual arrangementsof sparkers or igniters. It is proposed to adopt any preferred form ofsparker or igniter and to include therewith any suitable timingmechanism, the engine 30 being shown diagrammatically and adapted to'belocated at any desirable point either under the tank or at a distancefrom the latter.

The pulley 1 1 on the projecting shaft 13 of the water motor 12 has abelt 33 trained thereover and over a pulley 3 1 operatively PatentedJuly 16,1912.

associated with the crank ot the gas-engine 30 so as to start thelatter. A suitable pump 35 connected to any source of water supply isused for filling the tank 5, and has a pipe 36 communicating therewithand with the bottom of the tank 5. The gas engine 30 is operativelyconnected to the pmnp by a belt 37 engaging pulleys 33 and 39 of the gasengine and pump respectively.

The normal position of the tank organization is shown by Fig. 1, andunder these conditions the lever arm 22 carrying the float is inelevated position and the'igniting circuit for the engine 30 is brokenby reason of the fact that the contact or blade 25 car ried by thearm 23is out of engagement with relation to the knife contacts The valve 9 isalso closed and the lever 15 is in substantially horizontal position.When the outer arm of the lever 15 is drawn downwardly through thepull-device 18 for the pur use of filling an engine tank from the tank5, the valve 9 is elevated or opened and at the same time the arm 17 isthrown over toward the right and draws the arm 23 in the same directionthrough the connection 2st to close the circuit by forcing the contact25 between the contact members 26, and as the arm 23 is pulled over tothe right the arm 22 carrying the float is forced downwardly below thesurface of the water in the tank. Simultaneously with the completion ofthe i gnition circuit of the engine 30 the water passing into the outletpipe 10 sets the water motor 12 in' motion, and through the medium' ofthe belt 33 and pulley 34 the engine 30 is cranked and started and themotion of the engine is transmitted through the belt 37 and pulleys 38and 39 to the pump 35 and the latter immediately begins to force waterupwardly through the pipe 36 into the tank 5. This operation will notonly ensue while the outer extremity of the lever 15 is manually helddownwardly, but will continue after the said lever 15 is released andthe valve 9 closed until the float carrying arm 22 of the lever 21 risesto the position shown by 1 and at which time the tank will be filled inaccordance with a predetermined quantity desired to be normally storedtherein.

One of the most essential features of the invention is the location ofthe water motor or water wheel 12 directly in the outflow pipe 10 and asclose as possible to the outlet 8 so that the said water motor or wheel12 will be affected by the water at a point where. the water has thegreatest unatlected weight pressure to insure a positive rotation of themotor or wheel 12 to prelin'iinarily crank the engine 30 as soon as theignition circuit is completed and without the least loss of time ormotion. Another advantage is that the movement of the motor or wheel 12is not ma teri ally retarded owing to the transmission of motiontherefrom by the belt 33 to the pul ley 34 in cont-radistinction toorganizations of this character having a plurality of mechanismsdirectly connected to the shaft 01 the water motor. In other words, allof the the tank a and the latter is resupplied with water through thepipe 36 as the water is flowing out through the pipe 10, and while theinflow into the tank is not as great as the outflow, the proportion ofreplacementof the water drawn off from the tank will result in a quickerfilling of the tank and a material reduction in motion or actuation ofthe engine 30 after the valve 9 is closed. and a consequent economy inthe cost of maintaining the water tank in operative con dition or alwayssupplied with water.

What is claimed is:

1. The con'ibination of a tank having a valve-controlled bottom outletconstituting the sole water escape for the tank; manually operativemeans for opening the valve; an outflow pipe attached to said outlet; awater motor in the line of discharge of the water from said tank; meansfor supplying the tank with water; a gas engine operatively connected tothe water motor and said supplying means; a normallyopen electriccircuit including ignition means tor the gas engine; and means in thetank connected to the 1nanually-operative means for actuation by thesame and simultaneously therewith, but free of operative connection withsaid valve, to close said circuit independently of the level of thewater in the tank, and automatically operative to open the circuit whenthe water reaches a predetermined level in the tank.

2. The combination of a tank having a valveconti.'olled bottom outletconstituting the sole water escape for the tank; manually operativemeans for opening the valve; an outflow pipe attached to said outlet; awater motor in the line of discharge of the water from said tank; meansfor supplying the tank with water; a gas engine operatively connected tothe water motor and said supplying means; a normally-open electriccircuit including ignition means for the gas engine; and a float devicein said tank provided with circuitclosing means and connected to saidmanually-operative means, but free of operative connection with saidvalve, for operation by said manually-operativc means and simultaneouslytherewith, to close said circuit independently of the level of the waterin the tank, and automatically operative to open the circuit when thewater reaches a predetermined level in the tank.

3. The combination of a tank having a valvecontrolled bottom out-letconstituting the sole Water escape for the tank; a lever fulcrumedintermediate its ends upon the tank and provided with an upstanding arm;a manually-operative element connected to one end of said lever foractuating the same; a connection between the opposite end of the leverand the controlling valve for opening said valve when said lever isactuated; an outflow pipe attached to said outlet; a water motorarranged in the line of discharge of the water from said tank; means forsupplying water to said tank; a gas engine operatively connected to saidwater motor and said supplying means; a normally-open electric circuitincluding ignition means for said engine; and means in the tankconnected to said arm for operation by said lever when the latter isactuated by said element, to close said circuit independently of thelevel of the water in the tank, said means being automatically operativeto open the circuit when the water reaches a predetermined level in thetank.

4. The combination of a tank having a valve-controlled bottom outletconstituting the sole water escape from the tank; a lever fulcrumedintermediate its ends upon the tank and provided with acentrally-located upstanding arm; a depending manuallyoperative elementconnected to one end of said lever for rocking the same in onedirection; a flexible connection between the op posite end of said leverand the controlling set my hand in valve for opening said valve whensaid lever is rocked by said element; means located upon thesecond-named end of said lever for returning the latter to initialposition when the pressure upon said manually-operative element isremoved; an outflow pipe attached to said outlet; a water motor arrangedin the line of discharge of the water from said tank; means forsupplying Water to said tank; a gas engine operatively-connected to saidwater motor and said supplying means; a normally-open electric circuitincluding ignition means for said engine; and a float device in saidtank provided with circuit-closing means and'having a flexibleconnection with said arm, but free of operative connection with saidvalve, whereby said device may be actuated by said lever to close thecircuit independently of the level of the water in the tank when saidlever is rocked by said element, and is antomatically operative to opensaid circuit subsequent to the return movement of said lever when thewater reaches a predetermined level in the tank.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto presence of two subscribingwitnesses.

LOUIS T. HAGAN.

Witnesses:

CHAS. S. HYER, C, A. ROWE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0.

